


Black Feathers

by The_Degu



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Bird Monsters, Body Horror, Curses, Horror, M/M, Not in the usual sence but i thought it might be important, Post-Canon, Post-Finale, Self-Harm, Tags Contain Spoilers, True Love's Kiss, ask to tag, hc, lots of reaper head canon for this fic, monster transformations, post-episode: 69, transformations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-13 20:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14119902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Degu/pseuds/The_Degu
Summary: Kravitz has had a lot of Curses over his life and unlife. Being bound to serve the goddess of death, being not-alive, falling for the most ridiculous elven wizard in this dimension. but now he is facing a curse he doesn't know how to handle, and everyone else is struggling to find a cure.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: cleaned it up some

Eyes bearing down on him, hands claws and limbs wrapping around his body. He can't breathe it feels like a ton of dirt is making its way down his throat and crushing his chest. He can't move; there are hundreds of bodies keep him pinned to the floor. He can't see, there is only the pitch-black of the hunger surrounding him. It's so cold; he's so afraid, he's the last one. He's failed his queen. He's failed his love.

Kravitz wakes with a start his breathing is heavy and his scythe quickly appearing in his hand ready to defend its master, but all he sees is a messy room filled with moonlight. There are no unblinking eyes, or hands holding him down. There is just the light sheet covering his body and the chill of the room around him. Kravitz feels the blankets move next to him. So, he glances over. he finds the other person still sound asleep, and slightly snoring. 

Kravitz looks at Taako for a moment grounding himself, copying the breathing of his lover. Sometimes he forgets he has to do that now, and his queen refuses to answer his questions about it. She has been distant lately, well more than usual. He assumes these new experiences and her avoiding him are connected, but she refuses to give him a straight answer.

Some days she does return his quires, and on those days he finds himself closer to his queen in more than one way. Those days, he finds it harder to stay out of his reaper form, and his body is only that of a moving corpse. his body cold and stiff, his mind foggy and unwilling to think about anything besides his work. Then there are other days, days he can pass for living, where his skin is warm, and he can feel his heart beating in his chest. Most days now it is a mix of the two, a heart that beats, but only a few times a minute, lungs he forgets he has to fill, but a body that can bleed once more.

The other reapers refuse to talk to him anymore. Not that they were amicable before but if he needed help with a case he could ask, but now they treat him like an outsider. Of course, Barry and Lup don't treat him like that, but they are outsiders even more than himself. Straddling the line between life and death more precariously than the average knight of the raven queen, 

His stomach turns slightly, breaking Kravitz out of his thoughts and reminding him that he has to eat sometimes as well now. Not that he couldn't before, but he found no joy from the act, nor needed to eat sustain his body.  It is strange having to start doing these things to 'live' again, but he isn't going to complain now that especially since food doesn't taste like dust now. Though he isn't quite sure that this is hunger though, it feels more upset than that. Could he be getting sick? Now that would be something: A dead man getting the stomach flu.

Kravitz can't help but let out half of a laugh before sliding his feet out from under the covers. He knows Taako sleeps like a log, so he isn't too concerned as he makes his way down the hall.  He wanders the hallways of the small house for some time trying to tier himself out or just feel a little bit better.  It is going on three in the morning when the light pain turns into something else entirely.

He is standing in the living room of the house with the grand floor-to-ceiling windows behind his back. Any other night he would have thought that the view of the valley far below would be beautiful, but tonight he hurt too much to proses the moonlight outside.

Kravitz doubles over in pain; his whole body feels too tight. His skin feels like it is stretching like an overfilled balloon. His muscles feel like he went on a ten-mile-run and are still tense, but a hundred times more intense and all over his body. His stomach turns again, and a thick oil-like liquid splashes on the ground. His vision is doubled and blurry, and he looks down at his hands. His fingernails are growing and sharpening, and large scales rip their way through his skin leaving dark patches on his forearms.   He hears something wet hit the ground, and the tightness of his skin goes one of his legs. He looks to the ground where the wet slap came from, and there is a pile of something turning to ash and smoke. He looks to his freed leg and sees where there was once a patch of skin now lays a layer of downy black feathers.

"Krav?" A sleepy voice comes from the hallway.  "are you okay out there?"

Taako isn't in the room yet, and in a moment of sheer panic, Kravitz tries to summon his scythe. Maybe if he goes over it will stop, but his weapon refuses to answer his call. There is another sluff of skin as it falls off to make way for his feathers, this one much larger than the last, and the sulfurous smoke seems to fill the air around him.

"what the hell?!" Taako's voice shouts from the doorway. Kravitz tries to see where Taako is, but his sight is blurred, not just from the smoke, but the colors around him blend and mix to a gray hue. He tries to call out, but all that comes out is a horrible squaw that startles him. He backs from his own voice and feels the window against his leg, (he wasn't standing that close earlier) and stops.

Something hits Kravitz's chest with a burst singing the feathers there. He can't see where it came from, or when the second blast is charged up and crashes into his body.

"where's my boyfriend?" Taako almost screams at Kravitz as he unleashes another bolt of energy. Kravitz tries to tell Taako that it is him, to stop attacking, but all he can get out is another screech. A part of his brain, the part that can still think, prays to his queen for some guidance. But the sear panic of the situation sends him scrabbling backward, and he hears the glass behind him crack before he feels it give. He feels the shards cut into his flesh as another blot of energy is sent into his chest. He tries to back away only finds air under his back foot. Then he hears the crack of thunder, and he is pushed back.

There is nothing underneath his feet or his body, all Kravitz can feel is air rushing by as he falls into the valley below. His once human mind might have thought that this was the end, but instead, the mind of this creature he has become knows what to do. Muscles he has never had or used before stretch and tense as they catch the air underneath his feathered wings. He flaps them a few times, not knowing where he is heading, but knowing that he can't stay here.


	2. Chapter 2

Taako sits on the couch trying to get his hands to stop shaking. The window has been mended for hours, but the chill in the air refuses to leave. He sent out a mass SOS as soon as that monster fled, and Kravitz hadn't shown up. He wanted to go after the thing but had no idea where to start. Nearly everyone was at his home now, Barry, Merle, and Angus were testing the feathers, oil and blood that thing left behind. While Lup and Magnus stayed with Taako trying to both console him and get at least a little bit more information.

Taako could still see that thing in his head; the horrendous mass of feathers and darkness. He could smell the smoke and ash in the air. He could still feel the hot oil that splashed up onto his face, and he could still hear the honorific cry it made. That sound, like a thousand wailing souls, compressed into a single scream of, anger? Fear? Whatever it was it shook Taako to his core.

Barry walks into the room, with brow furrowed and deep in contemplation. He has that face like he is trying to fit a puzzle together without all of the pieces. He stands in the doorway for a good thirty seconds before Lup looks up to her husband and asks, "do you have anything?"

"not yet…" Barry says while scratching the back of his head, he clears his throat and gets Taako to look up at him. "look Taako, I know this is hard, but could you describe the thing for me? It might help if we can figure out what the thing is."

"why?" Taako asks "can't you just cast a fucking tracking spell? Clairvoyance or something? See that thing for yourself?"

"we tried" Barry confesses "but somethings blocking our attempts."

Taako takes a shaky breath and stands suddenly he really doesn't want to do this, but it might be the key to bringing Kravitz back home. He looks up to Barry before finally saying "it was like a bear, but with black feathers."

"that's all?" Barry asks, "maybe an owlbear?"

"owlbears have faces" Taako interrupts, his dry sarcasm taking over "and don't look like their bodies are just masses of darkness under the layer of feathers."

"no… face?" Magnus asks reminding everyone he was still in the room.

"it was just a skull," Taako says "like a bird skull but like huge and dripping that oil stuff."

Barry hums and sits next to Lup thinking deeply. Taako knows he shouldn't be that afraid of something like this. Logically he has seen things way scarier. He's seen the death of his friends, he's experienced whole worlds die countless times, he's fought and killed The Hunger, but there was just something about that thing that shook him to the core.  Maybe it was the way it moved or the sound that it made or the thought of it hurting…

Taako chokes back a sob at the thought, that thing was holding human flesh in its claws when Taako saw it. The few remaining pieces of skin and tissue that laid on the floor were the same color as Kravitz. Lup and Barry said it takes a lot to kill someone like Kravitz, they reassured him that he just got hurt and had to go to the astral plane to heal, but he hasn't come back or answered his stone of farspeach for hours.  It just isn't like Kravitz to do something like this if he is alright.

"I have an idea," Barry says before opening a rift to the other plane " I'll be back soon, I just want to check something out."

* * *

 

Barry walks through the white marble halls, one foot in front of the other his mindset for any office.  He can hear the distant screams of the damned that always echo through the endless building. He knows how the building is supped to work. Just think of a place, and you'll end up there, but apparently, you need to be more familiar with a person then just 'I need to find another office.' Because all he finds when he thinks of 'an office,' is his own or Lup's. He sighs not knowing quite what to do when another idea comes to him. He thinks of Kravitz's office and starts in a direction, hoping that knowing Kravitz will make it easier to find his office.

Sure enough, a doorway with a brass placard hanging above it appears down the hall. The door is unlocked, (security is tight enough you don't need that extra level) so he can go in easily. 

Barry gives the room a once over hoping to see something out of place, but nothing comes up.  The office looks like it does any other day, spotless, and organized to a T. The large bookcase filled with reference material and past cases sit perfectly alphabetized. The shrine seated in the back of the room next to the bookshelf lays cold and barren.  The single painting of Taako sitting on his desk is dustless and clean. The incoming paperwork for the day lays untouched on his desk, and the outgoing pile is empty.

There is nothing apparently out of place in the room. The thought of tearing it apart crosses Barry's mind, but he would rather not start with such a drastic measure. Barry looks over to the altar again, it is simple river rock, and animal bones make up the majority of the mass. The top of it has pearls and other precious gemstones set into the surface. Two small boxes sit by the altar, of course, Kravitz would keep his components at the ready at all times. Barry has a similar alter in his office but never touches it, and Lup is more or less in the same boat as him when it comes to 'talking' with their deity.

"Desperate times and all that," he thinks out loud.

Barry goes over the steps of the spell in his head. He has only cast the spell once before when he was first hired. He didn't 'feel' anything then, (Kravitz said that it was just good that he didn't burst into flames at the time) but maybe now he'll have a little better luck. He takes two sticks of incense from one of the boxes. Then five feathers from the other one. He lights the incense and places the feathers down. Then he speaks the incantation and closes his eyes, and asks his question "where is Kravitz."

 It's supposed to be that simple, he should get some sort of response, right? But nothing happens the room stays cold, and he does not hear anything from the goddess.  He feels frustration bubbling in his chest, can't she help him just this once? He's been a good reaper, shouldn't that be worth something?

Barry literally jumps out of his skin when he hears fluttering behind him. He turns and finds one of the messenger ravens standing on Kravitz's desk, delivering anther pieces of paperwork. It sets the paper down carefully and scoots the sheet, so it is saying neatly stacked on the pile. Barry clears his throat, and the raven looks to Barry. It cocks its head to the side and caws once before flying out of the room. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, Barry runs after the bird, not quite knowing why he is doing it.

The raven makes its way almost lazily through the halls, seeming to turn and stop at indiscernible times like it is actually heading in a specific direction. It doesn't seem to notice or care that Barry is following it, but once it does finally stop Barry is about out of breath from chasing after the bird. 

They are in a place Barry has never been to before. The usual marble floors and walls giving away to a single massive iron door. The door must be at least two stories tall, with intricate carvings and inlays on the surface. There is a hole in the door, no larger than a foot wide an a few inches thick. The slot looks like the mail slot in Barry's own home, and under the hole is a perch where the raven lands briefly before taking off again.

There is also a very cluttered desk not too far from the door. The office looks like his own or any of the other reaper's desks but is covered in trash and empty food containers. The raven flies over to the desk and lands briefly before hopping off and flies low to the ground. In a split second, it is no longer a raven. Instead a tiefling with ash-gray skin, inch-long horns, and oily hair that sticks in every direction. They slide his fingers on the inside of the door and jumps when Barry clears his throat.

"whothehell," the tiefling says turning suddenly to look at Barry. Black fire springs from their hands as they look at Barry suspired. Barry raises his hands slightly, not wanting to startle the guy anymore.

"it's Barry, Barry Bluejeans."

"Oh, you're the new guy," the tiefling says voice stringy, he douses the black flames and continues his thought "the… lich"

The way the tiefling says the word lich sounds like a curse. He almost physically spits out the word. He looks Barry up and down for a moment before shrugging and saying dismissively "I thought you would be taller."

"look…" Barry starts.

"Daz darling," the tiefling says.

"look Daz, Kravitz is missing, and we need help finding him."

Daz blinks a couple of times taking in what Barry said: "Kravitz is missing?"

"yea and a monster showed up in his place. Look I need some help, and I don't know where to get it. I tried divination and ol' Queenie here didn't answer, so maybe you can help or lead me to someone who can?"

"Well, your first problem there is trying to cast a cleric spell," Daz says with a shrug "you're a wizard, use a wizard spell. Second off Kravitz can't just go missing. He's her favorite, and she would have this place on fire if something serious happened to him. So, I doubt he is in real treble… unless… no that can't happen."

Daz gives a dismissive gesture at the last thought. Barry walks right up to Daz then places his hands on his shoulders and demands "he is going to be my brother in law, and I would like to find him! So, if you can't help me, I swear to the gods! I will-"

The sound of paper sliding across iron breaks Barry out of his threats. Daz looks like they are ready to piss himself as Barry lets go. He looks over to the slot and straightens out His cloak before taking the paper between two fingers. He scans over the front then glance up the Barry.

"this one is for you," he says dismissively, "and it's urgent."

Barry opens the letter carefully. It isn't written in the usual elegant cursive that the letters usually hold; instead, its writing is jagged and harsh. Quite a few of the letters are missing, or the ink is running over them. It is written in a way he can almost hear a voice as he reads it.

Hel-, this -s K-a-itz, -y queen ple-se -elp m-, its -o dark -ere. -id th- h-nge- come -or -e? S-me-ne, it's -oo lou- here, -omeone wh- -id -aako a-tack m-? Why -s my bo-y d-ing t-i-? P-ease m-m, any-ne p-eas- he-p me.

Barry looks at the paper again, trying to understand what it means. He turns it over in his hands, and only finds the text and his name written on the outside. The bubble of frustration in his gut flairs up again, but it dies down when another letter slides out of the slot in the door. Daz takes it then sighs and hands it over.

"another urgent letter from you know who," Daz says before turning back into a raven and perching by the slot.

Thankfully this time the words are legible again and read:

Look north of the circle that one of you made, to a fallen champion and into its heart.  The thing that you will find there is precious and fragile, it will need help, and this is how you will see him.

Barry looks over to Daz who is busy cleaning their feathers, and asks "is this all?"

Bird-Daz looks over to Barry and seems to almost shrug. He talks in the inhuman voice mockingbirds use and says, "she's assuring your questions dude, don't look a gift horse n' all that."

Barry is already opening a rift as Daz finishes his sentence and doesn't bother saying goodbye. He reads over the second letter, again and again, trying to understand what it meant. A few of the things made more sense than the others, but maybe someone back home will know what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of a Barry centric chapter, but I needed to get some exposition out of the way, sooooo here it is. and I like Barry a lot. next chapter we'll be getting back to Krav and Taako so look forward to that!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: cleaned things up

“That boy is cursed!” A female voice fills the mansion. Kravitz tries to ignore his tutor’s cries of anger, but the sound seems to flow freely through the house.

“he is my son, and I will not have you talk about him that way!” Father is yelling now too. Kravitz doesn’t like it when Father is angry. He rarely gets angry and has never gotten angry at him, but it still scares him when father raises his voice. “if you do not show him the proper respect you will just have to leave!”

Kravitz looks down at the dead cat at his feet. It was his tutor’s cat, he liked it was nice to him, but now it’s dead.  He runs his hands over the dead creature’s fur he knows it can’t feel him, but he wants to make sure that its soul can see that it was loved as it floats away.

Nothing lives around him. The maids say the garden wilted the day he was born, and he knows animals go within a few months of being around him.  He doesn’t want, he never wants them to die, but they all do.

 Well, everything except the Ravens. They are always around him, one at the window, or a few flying overhead if he’s outside. They’re friendly, though Father doesn’t like them when Kravitz lets them into his room. But there the only friends he can seem to keep.

* * *

Kravitz walks down the halls of the great Jedea academy, and his fingers interlaced with his father's.  He feels nervous and can see Father feels the same way. They eventually stop at a large door and are let in.  The room is dark, only lit by a fire in the fireplace, but still feels inviting overall.

An old man is sitting at a desk looking over a large tomb. He has a gentle smile, and his voice is smooth and soft, "so you are Mr. Kravitz."

"yes and-"father gets cut off as the man stands and addresses the child.

"I was not talking to you," the man says, not in an angry tone, but one that is still somewhat scolding "I was talking to your child. He is the one that is going to attend the school is he not?"

Kravitz shuffles behind his father trying to break the man's line of sight. Father looks to Kravitz and sighs "he is talking to you, be a gentleman and answer his question. Can you do that for me?"

Father pushes Kravitz so that he has to look at the old man. He shuffles uncomfortably before finally muttering "yes I am sir."

"good!" The man almost shouts, and a large smile spreads across his face "we'll make a wizard out of you yet, young lad!"

* * *

 

"have you tried any cleric spells?" His instructor asks. "maybe those would work better for you?"

"no!" Kravitz says throwing his book down. It was what felt like the hundredth time trying to cast the spell, but nothing was happening "nothing works! I can't cast a spell worth shit! Magic just happens around me!"

The instructor hums and waits for the teen to cool down some before saying "come with me. I have another idea… there are other ways to cast spells."

Kravitz fallows his instructor through the halls. He's still mad but not as much as he was before, and the long walk seems to be helping as well. They head out of the main gates and past the school boundaries. He can't remember the last time he left the school, two, three years ago? 

They walk for a few minutes until arriving at a building that doesn't look too dissimilar then Jedea, but the outside is painted with many colors. There are big ribbons of fabric having from the trees and walls of the building. Making the whole place look like a rainbow.

The two head inside and into a large auditorium. A few people are practicing on the stage, but they pay Kravitz no mind until his instructor walks up to the stage and half-yells "is it alright if you show one of my students the ropes? He is having a hard time finding his way of casting, and I thought this might be an option."

One of the people on the stage, a Halfling holding a flute, looks over to Kravitz and shrugs. She stands and starts to play a simple song, but the sound makes Kravitz's heart pound. Light yellow lights flicker around him and begin to gather on his skin. Everyone else seems to light up as well as the woman plays her music. She doesn't play for long, but she ends with a flourish and asks "is that what you wanted? I can play another if you want me to.

"no that should be enough," the instructor says "would you be willing to try?"

Kravitz nods, still somewhat spell-bound from the music.

* * *

Kravitz stands in front of his father now. They stand almost eye-to-eye now, but Kravitz can't meet his father's gaze. He is still holding his instrument in his sweaty hands. His body feels like it is ready to run at any moment.

"so you're a bard…" father's voice seems to trail off. "that's… not what I was expecting."

"you wanted me to learn how to cast spells, and this is how I do it." Kravitz says getting defensive "look I can cast uh… this!"

Kravitz plays a few notes, and one of the ravens comes to him and lands on his father's shoulder. It looks at his father for a moment and says in Kravitz's voice "look I can cast uh… this!"

There is a beat of silence,  but Kravitz's father bursts out into laughter making Kravitz stop his playing. Kravitz looks down at his feet embarrassment flooding his system. This was a dumb idea; father is going to hate him now.

"Kravitz!" Father cheers "that is wonderful!"

"really?" Kravitz says looking up to father "you aren't mad?"

"Oh, gods no! This is wonderful! I'm so proud," he grabs Kravitz's shoulders and addresses him in a solemn voice tone, "and I know your mother is proud too."

Kravitz grins from ear to ear when his father tells him this. Father is happy as well. He asks Kravitz about his magic and how the music controls it. He asks about his new instructors and where his first recital will be.

"so, where do you want to go with this?" Father asks, "do you want to be a first chair, or do you want to help some lowly adventurers along, with your music."

Kravitz can feel the blush spread across his cheeks now "well I've been thinking about it, and maybe a conductor? Or write some music, I don't know."

"well, whatever you do I know you'll be the best at it."

* * *

 

Kravitz has had many recitals since then, and father had shown up for every performance.  He sits in the second chair now, and he is going to conduct his first show in a few weeks, but he doesn't go to his show. Because father had come down with phenomena a few weeks prior, and he needed Kravitz to be there with him. Kravitz traveled the week-long ride back home for the first time in years. He found father laying on his bed, dying.

And Kravitz could do nothing about it. The healers did all they could do, but they said there was just something draining the life out of his father. Kravitz knew what it was, they both knew, but there was nothing either of them could do about it.

So, Kravitz sat by his father and played his music. Most of the time father slept, but the enchantments the Kravitz added to his melodies seemed to ease his father's suffering when he slept. When father was awake, he listened and hummed along with the songs he knew. 

There were hundreds of ravens waiting outside now. A few found even their way in through the chimney and sat quietly in the bedroom. Kravitz tried to shoo them outside a few times, but father said they could stay. Just this one time.

Most of the ravens left when father died. He died in his sleep a single breath out, and he was gone. Kravitz could see his soul leave his body and one of the Ravens snatch it in its claws. It held the small light close to its body like a precious gem and sat by the window. Kravitz let the raven out and watched it fly off into the forest below. The rest seemed to take the hint and fly after it. There was something comforting about that, that father wouldn't be alone on his way to the next life.

* * *

Kravitz was celebrating his twenty-seventh birthday when he died. It wasn't a brave or heroic death, not an end that people should be proud of. He got run over by a carriage, nothing more nothing less. Sure, he was drunk off his ass when it happened, and it was nearly painless, but when he died, he was pissed.

Pissed off because he hadn't made anything of himself before he died. Pissed because he died is such a dumb way. Pissed because was dead and no one would be there to mourn him. He didn't know how long he was dead, nor did he really care, all he knew was that he didn't want to be dead; that he wasn't ready to be dead.

Then she came to him. Her voice gentle and kind. Trying to calm his angry soul; she wanted to bring him peace by letting him know the driver was caught. But that didn't matter he was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"yes, but there is something I can do about it" her voice fills his head again. "you can become one of my knights, worship me and do my bidding."

"so I can live again?"

"no, you will no longer be living, but you can be amongst them if you please."

"so all I need to do is your dirty work, and you'll let me go back?"

"I do not give this offer lightly, and you make it sound much simpler than it is, but… yes,"

"I would like that very much."

* * *

"hey thug, what's your name, I'm about to tentacle your dick." That dumb wizard once said to him. He was horrified at the time, angry, and somewhat concerned that he was taking someone utterly insane in. But a target is a target he told himself, and he would be set if he even caught one of these men.

And he did, and promptly fell wholly and completely in love with that dumb idiot wizard. 

* * *

Kravitz goes over the memories, again and again, trying to hold onto them. He tries to control his body once more but finds that he can’t navigate the area around him if he is trying to do it. His body knows what it is doing without his help. It’s too big, and he can’t see anything now, it’s all just a field of gray, but he can hear and smell like he’s never before. He can tell where things are if he concentrates for a moment, but anything that moves is hard to track.

He finds himself in a cave or something surrounded by stone. The monsters part of his mind is chanting ‘safe, safe, safe’ so he has to believe it to some extent. The walls are jagged stone, and the floor is strikingly smooth like a sheet of glass below his clawed feet.

He’s so tired now; his body hurts so much he can feel the burns on his flesh and where the feathers were torn out of his skin. He finds the back of the cave and crumples to a heap on the floor ready for some sort of rest. If he were still human, he would weep, but now all he can do is cry out into the air with an inhuman mouth. He wails and screams as his claws dig into his body _, I just need to get the feathers off, then I will be back to normal, That’s all._ A sick combination of this dueling minds creates an answer.

But no matter how many feathers he tares out of his flesh, more seem to spurt from the mass of his body. Soon he digs his beak into his wing and wraps at the skin there trying to remove the extra limb, but all he does is maul his new skin and cover his mouth with black oil-like blood.

He has moved to tearing out the flight feathers on one of his wings when he hears the rip of reality behind him. He freezes, and panic floods his mind when he hears the voice call into the cave “Krav, hello? Anyone?”

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not saying that Kravitz is an Aasimar of The Raven Queen, but I'm also not saying that he's not...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: tweaked the ending, since I changed my mind about how I wanted the next chapter to go. nothing major just a few lines in the last paragraph, but I would re-read it so it makes more sense.  
> EDIT: changed it back...

"Krav, hello? Anyone?" Taako calls into the mouth of the cave. Well, it isn't really a cave, it is more a hole in the Dead Judge outside of old Phandalin. The once huge ornate stone structure is now pockmarked from the Hunger's mark and decayed from its time out in the elements. It only looks like a vaguely human-shaped anymore. It is more just a pile of rubble, with an opening just big enough for something large to squeeze through.

The 'riddle' the raven queen gave to Barry was pretty obvious to Taako. Maybe it was made for him and not the other two because the circle he made and the dead champion just north of it was kind of obvious (and he's an idiot wizard). So as soon as Barry read it out, Taako teleported to the circle of glass leaving Barry and Lup behind.

So here he is now just inside the mouth of the cave. There is an air of magic to the area, not super discernable, but the air seems to prickle with magician energy of some sort.  The cave isn't all that deep but the change from the brightness outside to the darkens of the cave makes it hard to see the whole thing. The darkness seems almost unnatural to an extent, the daylight only reaching half as far into the cave it should have.

Taako calls into the cave again, and a spike of fear seems to strike him out of nowhere. It's like a fear that isn't his; he doesn't see anything he should be afraid of, and yet he is shaken to his core. Though he takes a few breaths and is able to shake the fear, it still lives at the back of his mind.

After Taako gets his breathing under control, and his eyes adjust to the unnatural darkness of the small cave he looks to the back.  There is a small amount of movement as something looks to him. It is a mass of darkness; a large dark and still body sirs. The only sound that the thing makes Is a slight dripping sound combined with the brushing of feathers.

Taako tightens his grip on his wand but doesn't raze it. The thing doesn't move it seems to be trying to blend in with the darkness around it, but Taako can pick up the creature through the darkness. It isn't trying to attack him or be aggressive in any way, and the note said to be gentle. So, Taako does his best not to aggravate the creature more than he has to.

"w-where's my boyfriend?" Taako calls to the monstrosity "did you kill him."

Taako takes a step forward now, but the monster retreats further into itself. The darkness of the cave seemingly swallows the monster up.  Taako casts light to see the thing better.  would be lying if he said he didn't feel a small amount of pity when he looked at the wretched beast.  It looks injured, more than it should have been form Taako's attack. Its left wing was mauled beyond recognition.  It is missing large patches of feathers all over its body; leaving large weeping wounds on the dark mass underneath. The skull-like face of the monster is covered in shining oil that drips from its beak. It has no expression, but the vague feeling of pain and fear that Taako feels at the back of his mind lets him know that this thing is not in a good place.

"can you talk?" Taako states more then asks "do you understand me at all?"

The thing makes its horrible sound, the condensed screech of hundreds of pained animals. It shakes its head before pawing at its face, Taako can feel frustration and anger come from the monster as it scratches at its beak. One of its claws scratch the bone there, but the thing doesn't seem to notice or care.

Taako takes a few more apprehensive steps forward while the thing claws at itself and only stops walking when he is a few steps away. The thing doesn't react when it looks back up but does seem to be somewhat startled when Taako speaks again.

"I will ask you one more time… do you know where my boyfriend is?"

Taako can feel his throat tighten up when he asks this, but blinks in surprise when the thing nods.

"so you can understand me!" Taako cheers.

It nods, and Taako feels an enormous sense of relief; from both himself and the beast. The thing visibly relaxes when Taako makes the connection that it does understand at least some extent.

"do you know where Kravitz is?"

It nods again.

"can you show me where he is?"

The monster stands suddenly when Taako says this, and there is an air of frustration coming off of it. It clicks its beak a couple of times before tearing into its chest with one of its claws. The oily blood drips off of its claws and to the ground as it rips more feathers out of its chest. Panic and dread and hate and fear all flood Taako's mind as it ravages its own body.

"stop. Stop! You're hurting yourself!" Taako calls, but the thing just sinks its claws further into the dark mass that is its body. Taako runs up to it and grabs the foreleg that is digging into its flesh and tries to pry it away. He doesn't know why he is doing this as he tries to stop the monster from hurting itself further.

 The monster cries loudly in Taako's face. Then pushes him away with its beak sending him scattering to the ground. Taako hits his head lightly on the ground as he lands, not enough for damage but enough to hurt like a son-of-a-bitch.

"shit!" Taako swears as he lands roughly on the ground. The thing seems to panic somewhat when it hears Taako land. It is immediately stopping its mutilation and slowly making its way over to Taako. It hangs its head low as it walks up Taako, a sense of sadness comes from the thing as it lays right in front of Taako and chitters its beak. The thing puts its enormous head across Taako's lap.

"affectionate fella aren't ya'?" Taako says nervously. The thing chatters its beak again, almost as if it is laughing. Taako runs his hands over the smooth surface of its skull, he beefy wonders if it can even feel his touch. As Taako looks into the monster's empty eye sockets, he feels the things happiness, but also a crushing sense of sad radiating off of it.

"I have to ask…" tack starts but trails off for a moment "did you hurt him?"

The thing sits up quickly and shakes its head furiously. It raises a foreleg, and Taako is afraid it will start to tear at its flesh again, but it simply presses one of its digits into its chest. Taako looks at the monster for a long moment. He can feel the panic rising in the things mind which only feeds into his own feeling of dread as the pieces start coming together.

"Krav?" Taako says, and a wave of happiness washes over him as the thing, no, Kravitz jumps back and gives one of its wailing cries. Taako has so many questions but is cut off when a small ball of light comes flying into the room, and a defining explosion fills the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayy another chapter out. this work keeps getting longer and longer, but I'm pretty sure next chapter will be the last. also if you're interested I have some sketches and drawings of monster Krav on my Tumblr just serch 'black feathers' and you'll find some of concept art and other drawings of monster Kravitz (and Daz). so if you're interested you can go and check that out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, it took so long to get this chapter out. School and a killer writer's block will do that to ya, but you do get another chapter out of the deal, so that's a good thing (I'm just bad at planning out chapters). but I'm like 85% sure that next chapter will be the last one (barring a huge breakthrough and something coming up that I didn't know was going to happen until I write it).  
> But anyway, you've waited long enough for this chapter so here it is- enjoy!  
> ps. check out ( http://cantripconundrum.tumblr.com/post/172505321007/did-a-quick-doodle-of-monster-kravitz-and-a-tiny ) who made awesome fanart which just blows my mind!?!?! I cannot thank you enough this is so cool!

When Taako stirs his ears are still ringing from the explosion, and he hurts from the small scratches and burns that dot his body. But those thoughts are not what catch his attention, Kravitz is lying on the ground unmoving. It looks like he took the brunt of the blast, so now his form is almost melting into the darkness around him.

"NO!" Taako shouts and runs to Kravitz. He runs his hands through the dense feathers trying to wake him up somehow. Then he hears footsteps behind him and goes ridged.

"sorry" the stringy voice calls from the mouth of the cave, they didn't sound sincere at all; they almost sounded sarcastic as they talked "I didn't know there was anyone in the cave with the monster… Is it dead? Can't exactly let monsters like that go stomp'en around the place?"

Whoever this person is obviously wasn't going to stop talking any time soon, and with each insincere word they spoke Taako's anger rose. Taako griped his wand, turned quickly and cast a spell in one motion, sending a fireball in the direction of the stranger.

    The person took the hit well, almost brushing it off before sighing dramatically. They take a few steps forward, hands up in the air but their staff still in their hand "whoa their buddy, no need to be upset."

    "you hurt my boyfriend!" Taako screams and lets loose another fireball. The person takes this one Just as well, if not better, but they do stop when they hear the comment. Even though Taako cannot make out their features because due to the sun glaring into the cave; he can plainly see that this person is not a regular human, or maybe not a human at all? The not-human go quiet for a moment only breathing heavily, but their body language changes completely. From that of fake nonchalance to seething with anger. Taako is slightly taken back when their eyes light up like fluorescent bulbs as he goes ridged.

"so, you must be Taako then?" his voice is almost smooth now "so you're the one that is taking him away from her? you're the one that is hurting my queen!"

 If Taako were in his right mind, he would have asked about the pronoun game the other was playing, but instead, he cast another spell blindly; not even sure what is coming out of his wand. Maybe a gust spell? No matter the case the hit seems to do the trick and sends the stranger flying out of the cave.

Taako turns to check on Kravitz who hasn't moved at all. Taako feels sick, and the dread of what might have happened is starting to crush his body. He kneels down and runs his hands over Kravitz's head, slowly losing his composure. Kravitz moves slightly as if he is regaining conciseness, but it is hard to tell without any facial features to give any expressions. He raises his head and runs his beak over Taako's arm. Quietly chittering as he does so.

Taako stifles a sob he digs his face into Kravitz's neck, the light feathers soft against his skin. Kravitz gently pushes Taako away before staggering to a standing position. He looks severely hurt like a stiff breeze could take him down if it wanted to.

Taako leads Kravitz towards the mouth of the cave one hand on his shoulder and his other wrapped around his wand. He doesn't know where the attacker went, and that the hit he took probably wasn't enough to take him out.  Taako stops right at the entrance wanting to make sure that there is no one waiting outside for them. He doesn't see the stranger anywhere, but that doesn't mean that he isn't there.

  Taako pulls out his stone of farspeach to call everyone, then turns to address Kravitz. But he is unable to get any words out when a body slams into him and inch-long claws wrack his side. The thing leaps off of him as fast as it attacked him in the first-place skittering to a stop a few feet away. Standing in front of Taako is a very large, very pissed off, black tiger.

(Fucken' druids) Is the only thing that crosses Taako's mind as he launches another spell at the intruder. The spell lands but not before the tiger is back on top of Taako; its large claws ready to dig into his body, but this time Taako is ready for his dex saving throw.  He roles out of the way of the big cat, sending another blast in its direction as he does so. The tiger's lip draws up in a snarl before it launches itself at Taako for the third time.

This time Taako takes this hit as the tiger lands on him; pinning him to the ground. The tiger goes throat, jaws snapping and claws burring deep into Taako's chest. There is pain, and it makes Taako cry out, but he is more occupied by trying to find purchases on the slick fur to keep the beast from taring out his throat. It is only a split second, but Taako is afraid, he is worried that this thing is going to kill him then finish whatever it started with Kravitz. But fear isn't the only thing he feels, he feels angry, but all of the anger isn't his own. He feels the weight being lifted and the shriek of the cat as it is torn from his body. Kravitz has it in his beak, it is nearly as large as he is, but he whips it around like it weighs nothing. Kravitz thrashes the attacker side to side like a dog with a small animal, before throwing it at a pile of rocks nearby. The tiger hits with a crack and lands harshly its feline form dissolving. It turns into that of an ash-grey tiefling. His neon yellow eyes seem to glow as he snarls in infernal. He staggers to a standing position A scythe appearing in his hand as he casts his spell. Black fire leaps from his outstretched fingers and rushes towards Taako like a magnet.

The hellish rebuke hits Taako like a ton of brisk, the purely magical flames burring him in a way wholly unique to the tiefiling, but he makes it through the blaze. The pain feeds Taako's spells as he cast them. He can feel Kravitz's anger as well he doesn't care what he is casting nor how many spell slots he is burning through as he whips his wand. Taako casts, again and again, letting his magic fly without much thought. The tiefiling is on the defensive now, counterspelling and dodging as much as casting offensively.

Taako gets a particularly good hit in, and the tiefling falls to one knee. As Taako is readying to finish him off the tiefiling laughs, mutters something under his breath and his skin starts to stitch itself together (fucking druids!). The tiefiling stands and readies himself for another round of casting, but both him and Taako are distracted when the sound of tearing fabric fills the air. They look over to where the sound is coming from, and the tiefling looks truly scared as four of the seven birds pile out of the rip in space-time.  Barry is the first one to climb out, scythe in hand and cloak billowing. Merle, Magnus, and Angus quickly follow him, but Barry doesn't step away fast enough when he is fallowed. So, all four end up face first on the ground piled on top of each other. There is a second tare, and Lup walks out already face-palming.

"some of you could have come through my portal you know." She says exasperated. She looks from the pile of men. Then Taako and her amusement quickly turn to rage as her eyes glance over to the tiefling.

"Daz?" Barry asks as he stands up. Everyone turns to look at him now.

"how do you know this fucker?" Taako says pointing his wand at the tiefling.

"he's a guy from work." Barry starts, dots connecting in his head. "I just met him this morning though…"

 

**Author's Note:**

> this fic came to me while walking around today so its pretty rushed, but I still like it so here it is!  
> also, just thanks for reading my fic means the world to me  
> and do you know what time it is? it's shameless self-promotion time!  
> here is my Tumblr: thedegu.tumbr.com  
> and hay maybe buy me a tea? http://ko-fi.com/D1D3894A


End file.
